Opening statements in Highland Park parade shooting trial to begin Monday​on March 3, 2025 at 4:46 pm

WAUKEGAN, Ill. (WLS) — A jury has been seated and is now ready for opening statements at the Highland Park parade shooting trial.

This is expected to be a very emotional trial not just for the victims’ families, but also for the Highland Park community.

Robert Crimo III is accused of planning and carrying out the mass shooting during Highland Park’s Fourth of July Parade in 2022, killing seven people and injuring dozens of others.

The victims range in age from eight to 88 years old.

Crimo is charged with 21 counts of first-degree murder, three counts for each person and killed along with dozens of attempted murder charges.

During the trial, prosecutors say nearly all of the 48 survivors from that day plan to testify.

Prosecutors have also turned over thousands of pages of evidence as well as hours of a video-taped interrogation during which police say Crimo confessed to the shooting.

Crimo, 24, pleaded not guilty and rejected a plea deal least year.

Crimo sporadically appeared in court as jurors were questioned last week at times refusing to leave his jail cell.

The 12-person jury is made up of six men and six women with six alternates.

This trial is expected to last three to five weeks.

If convicted, Crimo is expected to get life in prison with no possibility of parole.

About the victims

The victims killed range in age from 8 to 88 years old.

• Katherine Goldstein, 64, of Highland Park
• Irina McCarthy, 35, of Highland Park
• Kevin McCarthy, 37, of Highland Park
• Jacquelyn Sundheim, 63, of Highland Park
• Stephen Straus, 88, of Highland Park
• Nicolas Toledo-Zargoza, 78 of Morelos, Mexico
• Eduardo Uvaldo, 69, of Waukegan

Irina and Kevin McCarthy’s 2-year-old son was found wandering alone in the wake of the Monday, and safely reunited with his grandparents.

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